Congratulations to the graduating class of 2012. We’ll be expecting you at the welfare office!

In recent months, the US Department of Labor has documented official jobless benefit claims as finally on the decline after years of figures teetering close to 10 percent. For recent college grads, however, that slump is still there and worse than you might imagine. According to recent data studied by The Associated Press, more than half of the country’s recent college graduates are either without a job or grossly underemployed.

The AP cites a new report out of Northeastern University that reveals 53.6 percent of Americans with a bachelor’s degree under the age of 25 are either without work or desperately in need full-time employment. In all, that’s around 1.5 million young Americans who either cannot find work or are left to settle with working limited hours for limited pay.